From Right to Life of Michigan:
On February 21, 2006, justices on the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States appropriately announced that they would review a lower court ruling which blocked the enforcement of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Since the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to review the case, sometime in the future they will hear arguments and rule on whether the federal government is allowed to ban the horrendous practice of partial-birth abortion. This decision is positive and may allow justices to fairly interpret the law and allow the law to protect babies in the process of being born.
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was signed by President Bush on November 5, 2003. This law, if in effect, would ban the abortion procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion. Registered nurse Brenda Pratt Shafer witnessed several partial birth abortions and described the procedure: "The baby's body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. All the while his little head was still stuck inside. The abortionist took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby's head. Then he opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the highpowered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby's brains out." This law was challenged in various courts because more than five years ago in Carhart v. Stenberg, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Nebraskas ban on partial-birth abortion was unconstitutional.Michigans Legal Birth Definition Act
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is different from Michigans Legal Birth Definition Act. The Legal Birth Definition Act (LBDA) takes a unique approach by defining legal birth at the moment when any non-severed part of an unborn child is outside the mother. Michigans law doesnt ban a specific abortion procedure like the federal law, but its language effectively prohibits partial-birth abortion by making it equivalent to infanticide. The federal legislation asks if there are grounds for restricting a certain type of abortion procedure while the LBDA asks if states are allowed to define when a child is legally born. The LBDA was passed through the Michigan legislature after more than 460,000 Michigan voters signed a petition to override Governor Jennifer Granholms veto and is currently working its way through the legal system after a single federal judge ruled against it.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision to review the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act has no effect on Michigans Legal Birth Definition Act and its appeal process in the courts.
Right to Life of Michigan will continue to keep prolife people updated via LifeLink and the web site, www.rtl.org.
